The Dragon Inside
by 42.Is.the.Answer
Summary: They are human, yet they are dragon, two species in one. The only thing to do is stay sane. Up Now: The Shadows Inside (Rogue Cheney), The Whiteness Inside (Sting Eucliffe), The Poison Inside (Cobra/Erik), The Lightning Inside (Laxus Dreyar). Upcoming (not necessarily in order): The Fire Inside (Natsu Dragneel), The Skies Inside (Wendy Marvell), The Iron Inside (Gajeel Redfox)
1. The Shadows Inside

**The Shadows Inside**

* * *

Mild spoilers for GMG arc (manga and anime)

* * *

They were in him.

Shadows, so many shadows. Darkness, whispering inside him, enticing him, telling him that he would have so much more power if he just killed, just killed everyone in his path, leaving no one in his wake. Kill his enemies, for they would try to usurp him. Kill his allies, for they would not be loyal.

_Kill his friends, for they were his greatest weakness._

* * *

They never stopped.

Even at his happiest, even with Sting and Frosch and all of his nakama (what a wonderful word: _nakama_), they were still there. Always in him, driving him insane, trying to break him, trying to overwhelm him, trying to beat him into submission with their endless stream of propaganda.

_Kill them, _they'd say, _Kill them all. And then you will be strong._

* * *

He supposed that he only had Skiadrum to blame for this insanity, this bloodlust inside of him.

_Kill me, _he'd said all those years ago._ It will make you stronger. You will have all the power of a Shadow Dragon. I am sick; I have nothing more to gain. But you, my son, you can have everything. _

It tainted him, killing his father. It'd been an ugly affair, and what was even worse was that Skiadrum hadn't fought him at all and just sat there while _his own_ son slew him with _his own_ power that he taught him with _his own _knowledge.

The shadows came for the first time that night.

* * *

They festered inside of him.

Everyday they grew stronger, and he could only grow stronger with them in order to not cave in to the darkness inside him. He was lucky; he had help. Sting and Frosch were always there whenever he was particularly weak, and Gajeel became an eternal beacon of hope. After all, he'd been able to escape his past of being Phantom Lord's biggest and baddest. He knew the shadows more than almost anybody.

Just not him.

* * *

Sometimes, he wondered if Skiadrum asked him to kill him just so he could escape them.

After all, the Shadow Dragon'd had to deal with them for _centuries_. He'd only known the shadows for about a decade, yet he was already dying inside. It was bad normally, it was worse while using Shadow Drive, and it was _hell_ in Dragon Force. He needed to heed the shadows' wishes, yet he couldn't, because that would mean betraying Sting, betraying Frosch, _betraying his nakama_.

And he couldn't do that.

* * *

He was stronger than them.

Even after all those nights, alone but for the shadows, even after all the high points and the low points, he'd survived. He hadn't caved in. He was still him. He was still _good_. He'd survived for this long. He'd survive even longer.

After all, Rogue Cheney wasn't defined by shadows.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you all for reading. As a reminder, I do not own _Fairy Tail_; that honor belongs to one (troll) Hiro Mashima.**

**This will likely be the first chapter/drabble in a multi-chapter fix/set of drabbles. Each one will focus on a dragon slayer (First, Second, and Third Generation) and the presence of their particular type of magic in them, though I think that this first one will be the strongest. I have all of them planned out in my head, and am half way done writing two (White and Poison) as of 3/19/14 or 19/3/14 depending on where you're from.**

**Please tell me what you think!**

**~42**

**UPDATE 4/2/14: I'm reuploading all the chapters with spoiler warnings. Just in case.**


	2. The Whiteness Inside

**The Whiteness Inside**

* * *

Mild spoilers for entire GMG arc (manga and anime).

* * *

It was in him.

The white, the oh-so-blinding, holy, pure, _unforgiving_ white. It engulfs him, telling him to be _stronger_, to rid the world of those less pure than he is, starting with the shadow-covered, _no-good_ Rogue, and then moving on to the dark guilds before taking down Kurogane, who'd done so many terrible things in his time in Phantom Lord, Cana and Bacchus for drinking so much they spent more time drunk than not, Rufus and Orga and Laxus for all their pride and arrogance, those Trimen along with Gildarts and those two older perverts at Fairy Tail for their lust and blatant womanazing...

And in the end, he'd kill himself, for after he'd rid the world of the sins of others, the only thing left to purge would be himself.

It made him hate everything.

No matter where he looked, he saw ugliness. It made him notice things that he couldn't ignore. He saw the man who took his paycheck straight to the bar where he'd drink himself under the table and come home and take it all out on his wife and children. He saw the woman who'd neglect her family, caring much more about the latest gossip and luxuries than her children's well-being. He saw the child who'd hurt and steal from the younger kids, and the teacher who turned a blind eye.

He saw _everything_, yet he could do _nothing_ but wait and bide his time.

* * *

It compelled him.

No matter where he was or what he was doing, he was always compelled to purge any evil or darkness that he saw. It was his _sacred duty_, it'd said, for he has the _holy power of the White Dragon_. He always fought against it, but it was strong, and one point always resonated in his mind: _those who are strong enough will become impervious to sin._ If only he were strong, and if only everyone else he knew were strong, then they wouldn't sin, and in the end, when the time came to purge the world, he _wouldn't have to kill them_. He'd like that a lot, so there was only one thing to do:

He just had to be stronger.

It'd been there for him when he had nothing else.

There'd been many years, many hard, _lonely_ years between killing Weisslogia and finding Lector, and then there were many, many years between finding Lector and meeting Rogue, but the whiteness pulled him through. It reminded him that all sinners would get the retribution they deserved, and he felt better knowing that the boys who said that he lied, the woman who refused him a place to stay, and the man who belittled him were all going to _reap what they sowed_. It gave him a warped mindset, and he'd often spend his time dreaming how those who crossed him and did bad would _pay_.

But then again, what else was he to do?

* * *

It was growing weaker.

It was caving to his will, and now that he's accepted that even the strong can sin, and that even the weakest of the weak can be better people than the strongest of the strong. It was not the strength of one's magic or body, but the strength of their _hearts_ that would save them in times of need. It was the strength of their _passion_ that would hold them up when they were about to fall. It was the strength of their _love_ that would defeat their greatest demons. He knew that now. After all, the Salamander himself, _Natsu Dragneel_, had taught him.

He wasn't perfect yet, and he most likely never would be, but at least now, Sting Eucliffe understood what true strength- and the whiteness- was meant to be.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this took so long! Long story short, I procrastinate a lot, so , along with a ton of other sites, is blocked from my computer, and so I am currently using my little sister's account, which she graciously left signed in. Now that I have an opportunity to post, I'm posting everything I have. Right now, I'm working on The Skies Inside (Wendy), and I have planned out The Fire Inside (Natsu) and The Iron Inside (Gajeel). Expect them sometime between now and... well, I have no idea.**

**Thank you for your patience!**

**~42**

****UPDATE 4/2/14: I'm reuploading all the chapters with spoiler warnings. Just in case.****


	3. The Poison Inside

**The Poison Inside**

* * *

Spoilers for Key of the Starry Heavens (anime only) arc, GMG arc (anime and manga), and Tartaros arc

* * *

It was in him.

The poison, dirty, _lethal_ poison, was always there. It flowed through his veins, his head, his _heart_. It would corrupt him, except he really _didn't care_. _Feed me_, it'd say. _Do as I wish, and freedom will be yours. _When he said that he didn't care much about freedom, just Cubellios, it said that that was fine, and that he'd get his best friend to hear him _as long as he did as it said._

It seemed like an awfully good deal to him.

* * *

It hurt at first.

His body had tried to reject the lacrima (and the _poison_) it was given, and the magic seemed to try to melt its way through his body. It burned, as if he'd just drunk a vat of acid, and he could feel it swirling, gradually seeping out of its prison of lacrima. There'd been pain, _lots of pain_, and he'd been able to do nothing but bite his tongue to try to keep up his façade of strength, though that never lasted.

He always screamed in the end.

* * *

It'd been better when he had Cubellios.

His best friend was always there to comfort him, but then she _wasn't_ and he didn't know if anything could hurt more than the hole that had opened up in his heart. The poison liked it. _More room for me, _it'd said. _You must carve away everything that makes you weak, and then, and only then, you can have _power_. Your friends make you doubt your allegiance. Obey only me, and you can have _everything_._

He thought that that was complete bullshit, yet he was still helpless when it began seeping in, and eventually, he was convinced that he _would_ find Cubellios again as long as he _let the poison in_.

* * *

It was his only master.

True, there was Brain, and then there was Midnight (or Brain II), and for a while, it was Jellal (though that was a long, long time ago for a short, short time), but the poison had always come _first_. It'd always been his _true_ master. The poison would make him stronger, and the stronger he was, the more powerful he was, the more powerful he was, the more people listen (and answer). He wanted to be _strong_. He wanted to be _powerful_. And most of all, he wanted people to _listen_.

Then maybe, just maybe, the gods would answer his prayer.

* * *

His prayer is answered.

He doesn't know if the gods finally got off their lazy asses, or if it was just sheer, dumb _luck_, but nonetheless, he is glad that it happened. Her appearance is a surprise, but she is still Cubellios, even if she is no longer his loyal snake. After all, he wouldn't return to prison for anyone else.

When he is let out again, this time to fight _dragons_, he's _ecstatic_ to hear her voice again, however faint it might be. In fact he wasn't sure what he enjoyed _more_: getting to fight a _real_ dragon (even though it totally whupped his ass) or hearing her again.

And then the next time, it's so _close_ that he could practically _hear_ it: _freedom at last _(and maybe even Cubellios), the one thing he'd been working for for over a _decade_. Yet as quickly as it came, it was snatched away in an instant by some vigilante guild preaching about repentance for their crimes and making a better world. He almost writes it off as complete bullshit (because it is, and what _right_ does that bastard have to order him around? He was _seconds_ away from death, and all he could think about was this Crime Sorcière crap?), but then-

_Her voice._

_She would want him to do this. _

And so, for the same stupid reason he went back to prison, for the same stupid reason he defied the poison again and again when he was younger, Cobra, no, _Erik_, went with the man he seemed to be destined to meet again and again.

* * *

**A/N: Here you go! Second chapter in a row. I'm on a roll... More like I suddenly just got access to a computer. I may or may not be able to post The Lightning Inside today, too.**

**~42**

****UPDATE 4/2/14: I'm reuploading all the chapters with spoiler warnings. Just in case.****


	4. The Lightning Inside

**The Lightning Inside**

* * *

Spoilers for Battle of Fairy Tail arc, Tenroujima arc, and GMG arc (anime and manga).

* * *

It was in him.

Lightning, _power_, though really they were one and the same. It crackled through his body, striking any and all things that were weak. It helped him so much, making him strong when he used to be weak, giving him power, so, so much _power_, shaping him into the man he was now. It gave him a sense of self-worth.

It made him more than Makarov's grandson.

* * *

It made him respect power.

He was young, so, so _young_ when the lacrima was implanted in his body. His grandfather had stood next to him for the whole procedure, letting the boy squeeze his hand as he gradually fell into the anesthesia-induced slumber, while his father watched from afar, preferring to stay away from his son while he was in such a weak state- and because Makarov didn't trust him. It hurt when he woke up, and his insides felt like someone decided to zap him with a bolt of lightning. Yet now, when he looks back to that pain-filled segment of his life, he supposes that it only goes to show that sacrifices had to be made when power was gained, and that in order to gain power, one had to be strong enough to make those sacrifices.

And he knew that he was strong enough.

* * *

He only wished that the power would come to him more quickly.

There was a period of them when he couldn't stand to tell anyone his identity. Every time, the moment he mentioned the name, "Dreyar", their thoughts either jumped straight to his father or grandfather. The first emotion anyone felt after he told him who he was was always one of two: disgust or reverence. He was bullied because he had a _father_ who was expelled and then started a dark guild; he was doted on because he had a _grandfather_ who was a Wizard Saint and master of a very strong guild, Fairy Tail.

He was never just himself.

* * *

It helped him learn to use his power.

Because power isn't enough; you had to know how to use your power in order to truly gain respect (or fear; same difference). The lightning didn't do much most of the time. It would occasionally nudge him in the right direction when he was at a lost as to what to do, but it never spoke to him. Honestly, he thought that it'd do more, but then he realized that it didn't _need_ to do more, and that he could get by like this: _all by himself_.

It just meant he had more power, right?

* * *

And then he realized that the power _he_ had _wasn't enough_.

The lightning had given him enough to become (in)famous in his own guild, but few people _outside_ of Magnolia knew of the third Dreyar, save that he was _Makarov's grandson_. And that wasn't_ enough_.

He realized that _he'_d done enough work, and that the _lightning_ had done enough work. It was the _guild_'s turn to boost his reputation to the top, now.

It was the only thing holding him back.

* * *

There was always a strange sensation whenever he used his magic.

It was like a barrier, like the lightning was resisting his direction, but he'd always just assumed that it was just another obstacle to overcome, another thing preventing him from attaining power. So he worked hard, and eventually, he overcame it. It was still there, but it was duller, and it didn't affect his magic as much. Or so he thought.

It was only when Fairy Law failed that he realized what the sensation really was: it was the lightning telling him that what he was doing was _wrong_.

* * *

Its power nearly increased _tenfold_ after that.

It turns out that he was right: the strange feeling was blocking his magic, and now that he understood a few fundamental things- friendship, family, and respect, his power was completely unleashed and he realized his true potential. Forget Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox; he had power, enough power to take down _Jura Neekis_, the strongest human Wizard Saint. Yet just _having_ the power wasn't enough. He had to use it _correctly_, too.

And Laxus Dreyar finally understood the correct way to use his power: it was for protecting the people and things he holds dear; or at least that's what the lightning taught him.

* * *

**A/N: So I managed to get to my sister's computer again, so one more chapter for you! I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter; it's a bit different from the others, but I guess that makes it unique, so it's a bit more interesting. It's a bit longer, too, and Laxus is such a complex character.**

**This is the last chapter that I have completely written as of today, 4/2/14 (or 2/4/14 or 14/4/2). The Skies Inside is partially written, and though I have ideas for them, The Iron Inside and The Fire Inside don't even have a word written in them. But we're more than halfway through! Four down and three more to go!**

**Also, for those of you who have recently discovered me, there is info on my other works (in progress AND complete) on my profile, including ones for fics I haven't posted yet, so head on over if you're interested. If there's anything that particularly strikes your interest, send me a PM!**

**Thanks for reading,**

**~42**

****UPDATE 4/2/14: I'm reuploading all the chapters with spoiler warnings. Just in case.****


	5. Author's Note

Hi guys,

I know I haven't posted in a while, which sucks. Long story short, for some strange reason, I still have parental controls on my computer to keep me from wasting time on the internet despite being a high school student, and FFN is among the blocked sites. However, AO3 (Archive of Our Own) is _not _blocked, so I can actually keep posting there. The interface is a bit different than the one here, but I kinda almost like it better than this one, so yeah.

Anyways, to get to the point, I probably won't be posting here much (if at all) in the near future (and by that I mean a year or two), but I will still be posting on AO3 (though given my crappy attention span, the posts there will be sporadic as well). My username there is essyr, and all fics originally posted here are under the pseud, 42 Is the Answer. I encourage you guys to all head on over there for any future updates by me.

~42

December 5, 2014


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